Dimitri Payet has finally left West Ham.
Payet has joined Marseille in a deal worth £25m.
The 29-year-old last played for West Ham in the 0-5 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup third round earlier this month. He told Slaven Bilic he wanted to leave the club and had been training away from the first-team for the past few weeks.
Everyone associated with West Ham has taken the transfer very well.
Or not.
https://twitter.com/jsullivanwhu/status/825851929628725248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The club’s co-chairman David Sullivan released a statement expressing: “sincere disappointment that Dimitri Payet did not show the same commitment and respect to West Ham United that the club and fans showed him, particularly when it rewarded him with a lucrative new five-and-a-half-year deal only last year.”
“I would like to make it clear that we have no financial need to sell our best players and that the decision to allow Payet to leave was in accordance with the wishes of the manager and the interests of squad unity.
“To be frank, my board and I would have preferred for him to have stayed in order to make an example of him, as no player is bigger than the club.”
While West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady announced that fans can replace their Payet shirts for £25 at club shops.
Morning, bring back your Payet shirt to any of the club shops & you will get a new replacement for £25, full details on WHU web site today. https://t.co/i9BPrS6YG1
— Baroness Karren Brady CBE (@karren_brady) January 30, 2017
Payet had a stunning debut season with the club last year, when he scored nine goals, and made 12 assists in the league. He was among the best players in the country.
The French playmaker was rewarded with a new five year contract and became the face of the club.
West Ham are evidently feeling very sore over the situation, and didn’t give-up Payet without a fight.
OFFICIAL | OM agree terms with @WestHamUtd to bring french international @dimpayet17 back to the club.#DimitriEstOlympien https://t.co/fRSJNkIlML
— Olympique de Marseille 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 (@OM_English) January 29, 2017
According to The Daily Mail, and Jason Burt of the Telegraph, the club would only sanction the transfer to Marseille when Payet agreed to pay back his salary for January – worth either £400,000 or £500,000.
The report in the Mail claims that West Ham were prepared to prevent Payet joining Marseille if he didn’t pay back the money he earned while refusing to play for the club.
Payet agreed not to take £400,000 in wages from West Ham – or, rather, was told not to – to get Marseille move. More on @TeleFootball
— Jason Burt (@JBurtTelegraph) January 30, 2017
Payet also took a £25,000 a week pay cut to join the French side. He played for Marseille between 2013 and 2015, before he joined West Ham for £10.7m.
